It’s a new week, so it’s time for some new changes. I’m starting a new training cycle, with new ideas behind it. And if you  haven’t noticed, I have a new background for my blog. I’m working on updating a few things and should hopefully have it revamped in the next couple weeks.

My big spring race for this year is the Flying Pig Half Marathon. I originally wanted to be out of state, but with such a busy schedule, I decided to stay close to home. And as much as I’d like to run Cleveland again, I’m excited to spend a weekend on the other end of the state and experience a challenging course. After running 10 half marathons, I want to take this distance to a new level. I want to push myself on speed and push myself on challenges. Hills of course being my biggest challenge.

So what makes this training cycle so different? After joining the rec center two months ago, I was able to open my training to more than just running. There are multiple ways of cross training including biking, elliptical and a dangerous monster of a machine called the stair climber. It has at least 5 stairs, and I’m terrified to go near it.  But this time, I’m actually going to make the effort in using these machines, and hopefully stay injury free.

What’ I’ve also added this time around are classes.  There is a full schedule of classes that can be taken through the week including yoga, cardio, spin, kick boxing and much more. I’m looking at adding two of these and possibly a third if I get the guts to take on more. In a couple of weeks I’ll be starting Yoga-lates on Thursday evenings and Yoga on Sunday mornings. My goal is to become more flexible and really focus on my breathing. One day I may add a spin or cardio class, but I’m not sure I’m ready for that quite yet.

You can see that the weekday runs are pretty light. Between getting home at 6:30 and making time for dinner, the night really cuts into my chance to run more miles. And well, morning workouts just aren’t my thing.  I’ve also thrown in some cross training on the days that my miles are really low. My major focus will be on weekend long runs. I’ve thrown in a few days of hills and speed, but all of my outside runs will have hills, and speed will be the harder day.

My body is ready for a half marathon, maybe not today, but I’ve learned that I can easily jump into the race. I want to push myself this year and try new things. I want to stay healthy and love every single day that I sweat. Here’s to a new round of training!

What spring race are you training for? Do you add any cross training or classes?